WASHINGTON — More members of religious communities were forced to flee their homes last year
than at any time in recent memory, the U.S. said in its annual report on religious freedom.

“In almost every corner of the globe, millions of Christians, Muslims, Hindus and others
representing a range of faiths were forced from their homes on account of their religious beliefs,”
the report said yesterday.

It said hundreds of thousands of Christians had fled three years of civil war in Syria and in
the Central African Republic, while lawlessness and sectarian violence between Christians and
Muslims had reportedly resulted in 700 deaths in December alone and the displacement of more than 1
million people in 2013.

The report also highlighted anti-Muslim violence in Myanmar that led to up to 100 deaths and
12,000 people being forced from their homes in the area of the town of Meiktila in early 2013.

It said organized hate-speech and harassment of Muslims continued and the Buddhist-Muslim
rivalry often was exploited for political gain.

The report also pointed to sectarian violence in Pakistan, where more than 400 Shiite Muslims
and 80 Christians have died, and China’s prosecution of relatives of people who had set themselves
on fire in religious protests.

Attacks on religion were not confined to the developing world, the report said, with
anti-Semitism throughout Europe evidenced in Internet forums and in soccer stadiums “leading many
individuals who are Jewish to conceal their religious identity.”

The report also said there were instances in which people of different faiths had worked
together to protect each other.

An increase in mosque attacks in Britain had led an orthodox Jewish neighborhood watch team to
help Muslim leaders protect mosques, the report said.